Powerball officials have again increased an already eye-popping jackpot from $500 million to a gargantuan $550 MILLION for Wednesday’s drawing. Sales are skyrocketing around the country as people join the fun for a chance to win this incredible prize.

The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation encourages responsible play and also reminds players to sign their ticket immediately after the purchase. Tickets for the big drawing must be purchased no later than 8:59 p.m. CT/9:59 p.m. ET at Lottery retailers throughout the state. To find a Lottery retailer, just visit tnlottery.com and enter the appropriate Zip Code in the Retailer Locator section.

This $550 million jackpot is the largest ever for Powerball and the second largest jackpot in the world. The previous top Powerball prize was $365 million, won in 2006 by a group of ConAgra Foods Workers in Lincoln, Nebraska. The biggest U.S. payout was a $656 million Mega Millions jackpot hit in March and shared by three winning tickets in Kansas, Illinois and Maryland.

Powerball is played in 44 lottery jurisdictions (42 states plus Washington DC and US Virgin Islands). Playing the game is easy! Just select any five numbers from 1 to 59 and one POWERBALL number from 1 to 35, or choose Quick Pick (QP) and let the computer randomly pick any or all of your numbers. If you match any of the nine winning number combinations - you win!

About the Tennessee Education Lottery
The Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation operates entirely from the revenue it generates through the sale of its products. Net proceeds from sales of Lottery tickets, currently averaging over $5.3 million per week, fund specific education programs, including college scholarships and after-school programs.

Since the Lottery began selling tickets on Jan. 20, 2004, it has raised more than $2.47 billion for these programs. In addition to the educational beneficiaries, players have won over $5.6 billion in prizes and Lottery retailer partners have earned more than $615 million in retailer commissions.

For more information, please visit www.tnlottery.com. For information about Lottery-funded scholarships, visit www.collegepaystn.com. To see a county-by-county breakdown of the number of students who benefit, visit www.seehowitaddsup.com.
###